The Egyptian hieroglyphic script was exceptionally versatile,
as becomes clear when studying its multiple uses both within
Ancient Egypt and beyond its borders. Even the few cases
discussed in this Element demonstrate that in the ancient
world hieroglyphs appealed to a wide readership, which
ranged from highly accomplished scribes, artists and priests,
to semi-literate workmen, as well as to speakers of
non-Egyptian languages. Creative processes within these
different groups resulted in very different adaptations
of regular hieroglyphic writing: highly specialized
enigmatic compositions, less informed ad hoc orthographies,
isolated uses of hieroglyphs as marks and emblems, and the
development of new writing systems. Important reasons for
the wide appeal and deep impact of hieroglyphic writing
are the iconicity and cultural messages of its individual
signs on the one hand, and its remarkable semiotic strategies
in rendering human language on the other.

The Element is available for free download from November 22
to December 6 at the following URL:

[www.cambridge.org]

DOI: [doi.org]